Question of the Day: Second Day Hair

Q: I am 1 month in from a BC and used to use KCCC, and now have switched to Eco Styler (Olive Oil) which gives me cute little curly coils that don’t shrink up as much. I usually shampoo, wash out conditioner, (sometimes DC depending on the time), either use a leave in (Cantu) or moisturizer (Hawaiian silky 14-1), gel and maybe Oil spray (Carols Daughter Tui). My question is what happens day 2? I usually hate to sleep (satin pillowcase) because my volume has gone down. Do people usually rewash and do it all over again or should you wet it and put more gel or use moisturizer or maybe it is what it is? IDK I usually spray a little water mixed with jojoba oil in it and a little moisturizer but then I get the frizz. Other times I just try to puff it back up with nothing and spray some sheen on it. Sorry this is hella long.

A: In my opinion, if you have just BC’ed, you don’t need to worry about second day hair. When my hair was much shorter, I basically did my hair every. single. day. (And still do it everyday a lot of the time now if I have time to sit around and let it dry some before I bounce out the door) I wouldn’t shampoo my hair everyday, but I would water rinse and cowash/condition it, then reapply my leave-in and styler/finisher. If my product left residue behind, then I would cleanse my hair with a cleansing conditioner or shampoo. If your hair is longer, you can spray some water on it to help you shake it back out from being smushed against your head, but when my hair was super short, it didn’t “shake,” lol.

Lately I’ve seen this weird obsession (not calling you obsessed personally, just something I have seen on the boards) with “achieving” second day hair or more. Let me emphasize, there is nothing wrong with doing your hair everyday. Personally, with short hair, it took me maybe five minutes. The reason why a lot of ladies with longer hair go for second-third day hair is because you don’t want to walk around with wet hair all day, with it dripping on your clothes and looking like a wet cat. But, when you have an inch or two of hair, who cares? Unless people touched my hair, they probably couldn’t even tell it was wet. I understand that some women apply product to small sections of hair when it’s short and it can take up to an hour, but in my frank opinion, they are too focused on curl definition. Even if you have thick hair (my hair is certainly thick), it should not be difficult for product to reach your hair when it’s less than five inches long. I’m sure that opinion is unpopular to some, but I truly don’t understand the lengthy process. Even now, I apply my product in eight sections or so, and it takes around 15 minutes. Anywho, hope that helps some and answers your question.

I’m glad to read this Q and A. I’ve been reading the blogs out there and wondering how people manage not wetting their hair everyday when they have short curly hair. I use Deva curl no-poo and one conditioner and I use it everyday, and I was starting to think maybe that was too much washing (but it just makes my hair more manageable and easier to style). My hair is maybe 4 inches stretched out still quite short.

I’m not a fan of doing hair every single day. But I never really big chopped, I transitioned wearing cornrows. But when I left the cornrows behind, I had a problem achieving second day hair because of the products I was using, playing in my hair too much and not sealing in moisture. Since then I’ve changed my regimen. I have to say that the current TnC I’m wearing is lasting pretty good. Usually by now it would be frizzed and fluffed out with some stretch to it and dry. While I don’t do my hair every single day, I do take care to moisturize with H2O, oil and a butter.

Well I mean, doing hair everyday isn’t logical when you are doing twists, braids, twist & curls, twist outs, etc…but if you have a twa and are doing a wash and go, which takes like, 3 minutes, I don’t see why not. When I do twist styles, I usually don’t do my hair for a week, and only retwist the twists on the top/front that look frizzy, and fluff out with an oil each morning.

I did my hair daily for a while, and then 3mos post BC i started achieving >2nd day hair. Here’s how: In the morning, spritz with water (or you can be fancy and add other things like aloe juice, glycerin, fav oil). Throw on a shower cap and let hair expand while you are showering/dressing. Remove the shower cap and re-shape hair with a rattail end or a pick with very skinny tines. All done! HTH

ok kind of off topic, but why is it a goal of some naturals to go weeks w/out washing/co-washing? Maybe I am being a hater because my hair starts to itch after 4 days but I feel like I am missing something. I would think with all of the pollution, dust, sweat, product, etc. in the air we would want to wash (however a person defines that) more often than 2, 3, 4 weeks?

Hahaha. Some people don’t like to deal with their hair, and for a lot of people washing means a long detangling session. I personally am too in my head (literally) to go longer than a week without washing my hair or playing in it, but to each her own. Also, when they have their hair twisted up for weeks at a time, they often still wash their hair, just in the twists, or they’ll spray it with an antibacterial braid spray or some kind of antiseptic to clean their scalp.

Yep great advise! I BC’ed for the 2x a month ago and have 1-2inches of hair and wash/condish/leave-in/ style or cowash/style everyday. The idea of 2nd day hair would not work for me. It takes 5 or 10 (I’m anal) and I’m good to go! However it’s summer I have no idea how I’ll manage in winter. Btw Elle, I appreciated your thoughts on SSK. Although my hair is short I was noticed the little buggers and would cut them out. But after watch’n your vid I’m like you know what I don’t plan on straightening Honey until she’s a year or so old. As long as they don’t interfere with retention I’ll let em be.

I had been dreading the summer b/c of the humidity and was pleasantly surprised that I can experiment more with wash n gos b/c it dries pretty quickly. My hair is longer, but I do wash/co-wash/restyle it fairly frequently b/c my scalp will start to itch if I don’t. I’m going to try that Shea Moisture Black Soap purification mask.